Hajiji: No local government election

22nd May, 2012

KOTA KINABALU: The posts of Mayor and district councillors will be appointed and not elected. To this effect, the provisions under Section 15 of the Local Government Ordinance will be maintained.Local Government and Housing Minister, Datuk Hajiji Mohd Noor, said this to reporters after closing a five-day state level basic training for Rela Young Squad at the Sabah Rela Training Centre at Jalan Sulaman near here yesterday.He said the current law on the appointment of mayors and councilors for the local authorities and other related issues was good and applicable in Sabah.Hajiji was asked to comment on a recent statement by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on January 18 this year that they would seek a court declaration to compel the Election Commission to conduct local government election in Penang.

“Penang is governed by the opposition and we in Sabah have never planned to reinstate the local government election,” said Hajiji.The Minister for Housing and Local Government, Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung, had said on the same day that the Penang state government should consult the National Council on Local Government (NCLG) before issuing a gazette notification exempting the local authorities in Penang from the provisions of Section 15 of the Local Government Act 1976.Section 15 of the Act provides that all laws relating to local government elections are of no effect.Meanwhile, Hajiji said since 2010, some 2,355 multi-racial Rela members from major districts throughout the state had attended basic training at the centre.He said it was vital to nurture the young generation and prevent them from picking up foreign cultures and getting involved in social ills and unhealthy activities like drug abuse.Hajiji also said the government has targeted the young generation in efforts to bring down the crime index under the National Key Results Area (NKRA).And, according to him, the Youth and Sports Department in collaboration with Rela had launched various volunteer programmes among the youths aged between 18 and 40.“Through the various volunteer programmes, we hope the young generation can contribute to the development of the nation,” he added.Some 184 Rela members comprising 149 men and 35 women from Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Tuaran, including those from the Industrial Training Institute (ILP), National Youth Skills Institute (IKBN), and Eastern College, completed the five-day basic training.Among those present were state Youth and Sports Department (Federal) director Mohd Dahali Hj Matsin, Rela Training Centre commander, Colonel Darman Dabang, Rela training officer, Lieutenant Colonel Laungah Kandar, Mohd Arif Masrun, representative of Rakan Muda development division of the Youth and Sports Ministry.

New Sabah Times